May 3rd Hobbs BASH keynote speaker: Jonathan Williams

Jonathan Williams is the Chief Economist and Vice President for the Center for State Fiscal Reform at the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), where he works with state policymakers, congressional leaders and members of the private sector to develop fiscal policy solutions for the states. Williams also co-authors Rich States, Poor States: ALEC-Laffer Economic State Competitiveness Index with Reagan economist Dr. Arthur Laffer and Stephen Moore. Prior to joining ALEC, Williams served as staff economist at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, authoring numerous tax policy studies.

Williams’s work has appeared in many publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Investor’s Business Daily. He is a contributing columnist to Tax Analysts, the leading provider of tax news and analysis for the global community. He has written for the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. In addition, Williams was a contributing author of In Defense of Capitalism (Northwood University Press).

Williams has testified before numerous legislative bodies and spoken to audiences across America. He is frequent guest on talk radio shows and has appeared on numerous television outlets, including the PBS NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Fox Business News and Bloomberg News. Williams was also the recipient of the prestigious Ludwig von Mises Award in Economics.

Williams has visited all 50 states and regularly travels more than 100,000 miles a year. While on the road, he is a connoisseur of local and regional food across the state capitals.